Former Super Eagles’ winger and 1994 African Footballer of The Year 1994, Emmanuel Amuneke has affirmed that victory for Nigeria away to Rwanda on Friday in the FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers will be a very difficult task to achieve.
Although the former head coach of Tanzania’s national team and current handler of Heartland FC of Owerri in the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) said he is praying for the Eagles to win Friday’s match in Kigali, he admitted it will not be a stroll in the park.
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Sports247 reports that Nigeria enter the game fifth on the six-team log and four points behind table-topping Rwanda, such that Eric Chelle’s squad must win the game in order to get back into contention for a ticket to the first Mundial that will be joint-hosted by three countries next year.
Amuneke declared, “I’ve been very, very far away from Super Eagles issues, but I hope we make it. I hope they win in Rwanda, and I wish them the very best of luck.”
The member of Nigeria’s pioneer World Cup squad at USA ’94, who starred for Zamalek of Egypt, Duisburg of Germany, Sporting Lisbon of Portugal and Barcelona of Spain at the height of his career, added that no one should take victory for granted in this Friday’s game and all others after it, as every country in the group wants to make it to the global soccer fiesta scheduled to hold in Canada, USA and Mexico.
He rationalised, “I hope they will win all their upcoming games, but we must be realistic. It’s a very difficult task, but everything is possible in football. So, I wish them the best of luck, and I hope that they will start winning in Kigali.”
Amuneke concluded by reeling out a number of benefits that would follow the Eagles’ qualification to the next World Cup, as it would lay ground for better days ahead of emergent players from the country, who will take over from the present array of stars, in the same way that his generation also handed over the baton.
“It’s our country, it’s our football, and we guys contributed in making it what it is today. Our dream is to see it continue to grow and give opportunities to the next generation to excel. That’s why I wish them the very best of luck,” Amuneke posited
